Sarah Palin and John McCain may not want to rely too heavily on accusations that Barack Obama associates with terrorists, citing his relationship to former Weather Undergound member Bill Ayers. McCain himself has some questionable connections: Chicago Tribune writer Steve Chapman refers to McCain campaign contributor, and convicted Watergate burglar, G. Gordon Liddy as “McCain’s own Bill Ayers.”
Liddy served four and a half years for his role in masterminding the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters, charged with conspiracy, burglary, and wiretapping. As part of a secret team under President Nixon formed as a response to damaging leaks to the press, he drafted numerous plans intended to embarrass the Democratic opposition. Most of these were never carried out, such as firebombing the Brookings Institution where leaked documents were being stored, kidnapping anti-war protestors to prevent them from disrupting the Republican National Convention, and conspiring to blackmail mid-level Democratic campaign officials. Liddy has also admitted to plotting to murder a journalist, although it was never carried out. In his new career as a conservative radio host, he’s made controversial statements, such as this response to the federal Waco raid in 1994:
“Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they’re going to be wearing bulletproof vests.”
While the relationship between McCain and Liddy can’t be described as especially close, it is at least as close as Obama’s ties to Ayers. Liddy hosted a McCain fundraiser in 1998 and has contributed a total of $5000 to McCain over the years, including $1000 in 2007. In November 2007 while campaigning for the Republican nomination, McCain went on Liddy’s radio show and greeted him as “an old friend”, and congratulated him on his “continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.”
Apparently, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, and terrorist attacks are what make America great. Liddy has never apologized for his role in the Watergate scandal, and in fact continues to defend it, in addition to a continued record of controversial statements encouraging citizens to take up arms against law enforcement. If Obama is morally compelled to denounce Bill Ayers for his role in bombings, shouldn’t McCain be held to a similar standard of conduct regarding his “old friend” G. Gorden Liddy?
